Rare Baby Animals Found Drugged in 1st Class Passenger’s Suitcases

The luggage of a first-class passenger on a Bangkok-to-Dubai flight contained something other than shirts and socks: Authorities at Suvarnabhumi International Airport found baby leopards, panthers, a bear and monkeys in the suitcases of a United Arab Emirates citizen. Undercover anti-trafficking officers had been tracing the man since he purchased the rare and endangered animals on the black market, according to the Thailand-based FREELAND Foundation whose mission is to make the “world free of human slavery and wildlife trafficking.”

When authorities opened the suitcases, the animals yawned, said Steven Galster, director of FREELAND, who was present during the bust. There were two leopards, two panthers, an Asiatic black bear and two macaque monkeys — all about the size of puppies.

“It looked like they had sedated the animals and had them in flat cages so they couldn’t move around much,” Galster said. Some of the animals were placed inside canisters with air holes.

Authorities believe the man was part of a trafficking network and were searching for suspected accomplices.

“It was a very sophisticated smuggling operation. We’ve never seen one like this before,” Galster said. “The guy had a virtual zoo in his suitcases.”

“It was a very sophisticated smuggling operation. We’ve never seen one like this before,” Galster said. “The guy had a virtual zoo in his suitcases.”

Not to mention, a small fortune in rare animals. Leopards and panthers fetch roughly $5,000 a piece on the black market in Thailand — known as a “hub for illegal wildlife trafficking” — and most likely more in Dubai, where such exotic pets are said to be popular.

Wildlife trafficking leads to “massive and irrevocably biodiversity loss” and the “degradation” of “natural ecosystems and essential environmental services,” as well as endangering human health, says the FREELAND Foundation. The illegal wildlife trade is estimated to amount to $10 – 20 billion in profits annually.